


Dragon's Fire

by MugenYumeDansu



Series: Dragonkin [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 07:31:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13406415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MugenYumeDansu/pseuds/MugenYumeDansu
Summary: Prince Iroh adopts and raises his late wife's niece, Saiyu. During Iroh's time wandering after his son's death, Saiyu is trained as an exceptional warrior. When Iroh goes into exile with Prince Zuko, Saiyu follows and helps train the prince, and becomes his friend along the way.





	1. Prologue

When General Iroh received the letter, he was greatly saddened by the news. His late wife's sister had just passed away in childbirth. The child's father had died in the war only weeks before.

This left the child with no one, seeing as neither of it's paternal or maternal grandparents were still alive, and there were no aunts or uncles to speak of, save him.

So he did what any honorable man would do. He sent back a letter informing the babe's temporary caretaker that of course he would take the babe. He had already raised one child, he could most definitely care for another. Though it did make his chest ache with the remembered pain of the loss of his wife.

So soon he had another member of the family. A little girl child by the name Saiyu.

She was a beautiful child. Beautiful pale skin, dark hair, and the golden eyes that were so rarely seen outside the Royal Family.

So Iroh hired a wet nurse, and a nanny to care for the baby, and he and Lu Ten became the guardians of a spitfire of a child.

Not too long after Saiyu's arrival, it was announced that Prince Ozai's wife Ursa had birthed a son.

By the time that Saiyu was a year old, she began toddling around and making quite a bit of mischief. She was into anything and everything she could get her hands on. And she was constantly following poor Lu Ten around like a puppy, or crying whenever he or Iroh were out of her sight for long.

At the age of two, she was beginning to show a stubborn streak a mile wide. When she set her sights on something, she either got her way, or everyone in the vicinity knew that she was displeased. But she didn't give up. Usually she would wait until no one was looking and attempt to climb up and get whatever it was she wanted anyway. And she usually succeeded.

At three she started climbing up every tall structure she could manage, and was often the reason for much panic among the servants for her antics. Lu Ten was usually called to coax the child down, or climb up and retrieve her.

At four she was a force to be reckoned with. She had presented as a firebender, and had begun her training. And she had a nasty penchant for lighting things on fire. Although, it was almost always something harmless that got set ablaze, with the exception of a few incidents here and there.

At five Saiyu had become a competent enough firebender. At that point she had become obsessed with learning everything she could about the art, and so she spent every moment she could practicing. Lu Ten started showing her little tricks with her fire, and she absolutely adored him. Some might even say she had a moderate case of her worship for the older boy.

At six she went back to her old tricks of scaling tall objects, and added to that, she began begging her doting Uncle to let her train with weapons. Of course he consented only after she pinned his cloak to his chair, time and time again with senbon that she kept getting from somewhere. Lu Ten was strongly suspected, as he always wore a smirk when the girl surprised his father.

At seven she was to be found training hard with her senbon, nekote, and darts. When she wasn't doing that, she was training hard with her firebending, or heard giggling from above, but not seen.

And then later that year her world came crashing down. Uncle and Lu Ten were going to war.

It devastated Saiyu. Uncle had gone before, but her cousin had been too young. Until his last birthday. Now he was going to go off and be a soldier.

Saiyu made him promise to come home to her. He obliged her.

And then the letter came.

Her cousin had died in the siege of Ba Sing Se.  
Uncle came home, a broken man.

He moped and mourned, and then he made a decision.

He talked to his father, and then gathered his young charge, only 9 at the time, and left the fire nation.

It was then that Saiyu found out that the world wasn't what she had believed.

Iroh spirited her away to a remote part of the Earth Kingdom and left her with an old friend to continue her training. He promised that she could trust the man, gave her one last gift, a necklace that had a small white lotus carved into the front, and the symbol for 'daughter' on the other side. It was then that she realized how Uncle truly felt about her.

Shortly after that he left her in the care of his trusted friend. She began her training in earnest the next day.

Uncle would stop by every so often to see her. He always came bearing a gift, and stories from his travels. On one occasion he taught her how to brew several different types of tea the correct way, and gave her a beautiful little tea pot that he had found in a market. Saiyu loved it.

Her training progressed well. She was getting much better as a firebender, but she had also been taught many different types of weapons than those she had already mastered, and even how to fight hand to hand. 

Not long after that Saiyu began learning the healing arts as well, and the art of poison to match.

She had become a promising young warrior. Her master, a man by the name of Izumo, praised her. He was well known for being hard on his students, so Saiyu took the praise as a mark of pride.

Saiyu had become an eleven year old prodigy, capable of taking down seasoned warriors in the blink of an eye.

And then came the day that they were to return home. Uncle had received a letter from the Fire Lord, asking him to return to sit on the war council. Iroh had accepted, and so he came and collected Saiyu and returned to the capital city. To the Palace.

And then almost as soon as they had returned, they were leaving again, this time with the exiled young Prince, on a ship bound for anywhere else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Basically Saiyu becomes a ninja. She's just as good as Mai with projectile weapons, and she is the one who teaches Zuko how to be a badass as the Blue Spirit.  
> She will also change Zuko in a few ways that cause him to realize a few things a whole lot sooner.
> 
> She will be interacting with a few other people, on and off the ship, that brings about some interesting things later on.
> 
> I honestly thought about doing a Pirate!AU, but I don't think I will because I have much more planned for Saiyu than piracy and plunder.
> 
> Tell me what you think?


	2. Chapter 1

They had been at sea for only two months now. At first they had holed up in an old Airbender ruin and searched for any and all that might be useful to the mad quest that the Fire Lord had given his son.

Personally, Saiyu thought the man mad, tasking a ten year old boy with finding the Avatar, when the Avatar hadn't been seen nor heard from in over a hundred years.

There were always rumors, of course, but it all turned out to be for nought every time.

So Saiyu had explored the ruin from top to bottom, and every nook and cranny that others couldn't find. 

She had been the one to find the record of a young Airbender boy that had apparently been the Avatar, but was listed as deceased due to drowning in an ocean storm before his potential had awakened.

That meant that the Avatar should have been born into the Water Tribe. But if he had, there should have been some kind of sign. Unless the Airbender had broken the cycle by dying before he could be awoken.

But Prince Zuko was convinced that the Avatar had been reborn. He planned an expedition to the South Pole, but they never made it. The pack ice had closed in and there was no way for the tiny craft to make it through the ice fields without major damage.

Zuko had hissed and screamed at that.

Now he was planning their trip for the next year.

Uncle had been nothing but supportive, and Saiyu had been treating her cousins burn. It wasn't completely healed, far from it, but it was much better than it had been only weeks before.

And it had become clear that the prince wouldn't lose his sight in that eye, as the Royal physician had believed. He could only open it about half of what was normal, but as the swelling receded, Saiyu was confident that he would have at least two thirds of his original sight range, if not three quarters.

The young woman had taken up training on the foredeck when she wasn't needed elsewhere, and occasionally the lieutenant would stop by and chat with her, Zuko would venture out and keep her company, or Uncle would bring his Pai Sho  board and some tea and play one of the crew members while watching and giving her pointers on her technique, which was good for a child her age, but far from perfect.

It was during one of these times that Saiyu and Zuko had a minor argument.

Saiyu had been on the deck of the ship practicing her kata when her young cousin finally emerged from his cabin for the day.

The bandages around the left side of his face were freshly changed and he seemed to be feeling better. The brisk air should do him some good.

Saiyu turned and finished the set before beginning another.

"That's not a firebending stance." Zuko commented.

"No it isn't." She replied.

"Why?" He practically demanded, as he was won't to do.

"Because I do more than firebend, Cousin." She snarked back. Zuko hmphed and turned away. Saiyu sighed.

"It's a sword kata. Developed for Jian sword. I also use different arts for projectile weapons and other forms of weaponry. My favorite is the senbon needles, and the nekote. Claws." She told the boy. He turned back to her.

"How do you know all of this?" He looked puzzled. Her gaze fell.

"I already knew the senbon and nekote when I was younger. After... Uncle's son... I asked him to teach me other things. Like medicine. He found me a teacher." She replied. She didn't tell her cousin that some of her exceptional skills had come from the Earth Kingdom. Uncle had apologized to her once a few months after he left her with Izumo for abandoning her. She had forgiven him even before that, and she had enjoyed the learning, and had eventually found something she loved, so she had stayed and continued her lessons.

She was far from perfect. In fact her firebending was only slightly above average, but her skills with armed and unarmed combat were far better than most.

"Oh." Zuko murmured.

They lapsed into silence for a time, Zuko observing her every move closely. He looked almost like he wanted to ask her something.

"Do you want to learn how to use weapons Prince Zuko?" She asked quietly.

"Please just Zuko. And I know how to use weapons. I use duo dao." He said almost cockily.

"Oh?" She smiled slightly. The doa blades had also been Lu Ten's favorites. Saiyu knew that her cousins had also been close in a way that she and Lu Ten never really could. Zuko faltered when Saiyu showed her interest.

"I-I'm not that good..." He trailed off, his earlier cockiness bleeding out of the words.

"Well, maybe if you practice with me you'll get better?" She suggested. At first she thought he might accept, but then he turned beet red.

"Why, so you can make fun of how much of a failure I am?! No thanks!" He shouted and turned on his heel, nearly slamming into Lieutenant Jee on the way to the stairs leading below deck.

Saiyu stood there for a minute, jaw agape, staring after her cousin. Then she got angry.

"FINE, SEE IF I OFFER TO BE YOUR SPARRING PARTNER AGAIN!" She shouted after the boy before turning back to her kata and aggressively starting another set. Lieutenant Jee only glanced between her and the prince once before grumbling under his breath about annoying teenagers and stalked off to do his job; running this ship.

 

* * *

 

Later that afternoon Uncle found her sulking in her cabin.

He knocked softly on the door jamb before coming fully into the room.

"Good evening my dear, would you like some tea? I brought our favorite." He smiled at her. She motioned to the table and started setting out the tea cups. Uncle got to brewing the tea. By the time that Saiyu had gotten everything set out and brought out a small plate of snacks to have with their tea, Uncle was already pouring them some.

"So I hear that you and Zuko had a bit of an argument today." He prompted after he had taken his first sip of tea.

Saiyu took her own sip, sighing softly at the lovely taste that coated her tongue.

"Yes, we did, Uncle. He saw me training again and asked why I wasn't doing firebending kata. I explained it was a weapon kata, and he seemed curious so I asked if he wanted to learn. He said he already knows how to use dao blades, but that he isn't very good. So, I offered for him to practice with me, but he blew up at me. And I... I lost my temper Uncle. Forgive me. He is so frustrating sometimes." She admitted to her beloved Uncle.

"Ah, I see. Well, good that you can admit that you lost your temper dear Niece. Perhaps I can talk with Prince Zuko and get him to see that you were only being friendly, and thought to help him improve at something that he enjoys." The old man finished his tea and poured another cup.

"Thank you Uncle. I appreciate the help. I didn't mean to offend him. I know that things are hard on him since... The incident. And he has gone from such a caring person, to this snappy little runt that lashes out at everyone. Even you, Uncle." Saiyu stared off into the middle distance sadly.

"I know my Dear. But if we give him some time and a little support he will come around. The caring boy that we all know is still there under all that pain. But remember, he may believe you are trying to trick him. The way his sister used to. Azula was cruel to him. So he suspects every act of kindness to be a trick. As I have said, give him time Saiyu. He will realize that you aren't Azula, and that you truly wish to help." Uncle smiled once more before finishing his last cup and hefting himself up to leave.

"Thank you Uncle. I enjoyed the tea, and I greatly appreciate your advice. I will try to be more patient with Prince Zuko." She bowed to the General. He bowed back and headed for the door.

"You are most welcome Dear Niece. And I will speak with him. In the meantime, how about you think on which type of tea you will bring tomorrow." And with that the old man made his exit.

She immediately perked up.

"Jasmine?" She smiled when the older man nodded.

 

* * *

 

 

True to his word, Uncle spoke to Zuko about his outburst at Saiyu. He came to her room later that evening and apologized.

"I-I'm sorry I snapped at you.  I understand that you were only offering me help and I lashed out at you. For that I apologize." He said nervously, bowing his head to her. They were sitting across from one another at her small tea table.

"I too must apologize. I lost my temper and screamed at you. It was childish. I am sorry Cousin." She replied, bowing her head much lower, as he was royalty and she was not.

They sat there awkwardly for a time, both fidgeting in their seats and unsure how to continue. Until Saiyu spoke up.

"I know it upset you before, but my offer still stands. If you wish to practice with me you are welcome to." She offered.

"Thank you, I think that I would like that." He responded. Saiyu breathed a little sigh of relief.

"I'm glad, I was hoping that you might. It gets kind of lonely out there by myself. None of the crew have time, and Uncle helps, but it's better when you have a partner to spar against. It makes you think on your feet in ways that practicing alone can't." She told the younger boy.

"Yeah, it's the same with firebending. It gets hard trying to figure it out on my own." He confessed. 

With the ice broken the two continued talking for some time about different things. It was only later that they realized that it had set the foundation for their friendship.


	3. Chapter 2

It had been nearly a year since Zuko had originally planned to visit the Southern Water Tribe and failed. This year he was no less ill-fated, as nearly half of the crew, and Zuko himself, had come down sick.

They were moored in a port not far from Whale Tail Island, as they had been for over two weeks now.

Poor Saiyu was run ragged attempting to care for everyone, as well as her surly cousin who snapped like a Komodo-Rhino every time anyone came near him.

Uncle had managed to stay healthy so far. And Saiyu was grateful, as he was the one going ashore and finding the herbs and remedies that Saiyu needed in order to fend off the infection working it's way through the crew.

Saiyu herself had been taking doses of the medicine in order to prevent becoming sick. She didn't have enough of the herbs to have the remaining crew do the same, but they were all careful and stayed well away from the sick rooms.

Saiyu had just finished dosing Lt. Jee and was heading to Zuko's cabin to give him his latest dose of meds.

Of course, he wasn't happy to be woken up and have some foul tasting concoction poured down his throat, but he obliged, knowing from experience that if he resisted that his cousin would hold him down and force it down his throat.

She had already done so twice when he refused to take it. It was not a lesson that needed repeating a third time.

After Zuko had downed the medicine, Saiyu set about making him a hot cup of tea with honey and a little lemon in it. It was one of the few things that had helped to soothe his throat and cut down on his coughing.

He sat up in his bed as the scent of the brew permeated the air.

"Thank you." He mumbled as she handed him a steaming cup.

"Hmm." Was her only reply before she began gathering discarded items of clothing and another cup from earlier that day to have washed.

"How is your head feeling Cousin?" She asked as he sipped the tea.

"Better. Still aching, but not nearly as bad as it was this morning." He told her between mouthfuls of tea.

"Good. Hopefully this will ease up soon and everyone will recover. Uncle and I are running ourselves into the ground caring for everyone. And it's getting harder to find the herbs we need without traveling farther and farther inland." She placed the clothes in a small basket and put it by the door. Someone would be by to pick it up soon. She sat at the small table across from her cousin.

"Is Uncle still out?" The scarred boy inquired. Saiyu nodded.

"It's been almost a day now. But I'm sure he'll be back soon. He was going to travel to the next town over and buy the herbs he could there." The young woman replied. Zuko's brow wrinkled.

"If he's not back by nightfall we'll send a small party to find him. Only the men who can be spared." Zuko said. He had finished his tea and handed the cup to Saiyu, who set it on the table with the other one. Her cousin laid back down and wrapped himself in the blanket. Knowing that the herbs tended to make one drowsy, Saiyu took her leave, taking the cups with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, I tweaked the ages a bit, so Zuko was only 10 when he was banished. And I'm changing things a bit, so that his scar isn't as bad, only for the sake of his eyesight.  
> Also, awwws they fwiends now... X3


	4. Chapter 3

Saiyu shivered despite the layers of fabric between her and the cold southern air.

It had been snowing for a week, and the landscape was a gorgeous blue, with lighter and darker blue here and there in the form of icebergs and glaciers.

Saiyu had seen some pretty odd creatures too. Ones she had no name for, yet.

Uncle was below decks, talking with Lieutenant Jee about their path through the iceflows. The landmass of the South Pole was getting closer by the day.

Zuko stood at the prow, eyes trained on the water ahead. He hadn't spoken more than five words to either her or Uncle for several days. Saiyu was beginning to worry that her cousin was sinking into obsession.

He had come out of his shell some since Saiyu had started training with him. Uncle was essentially using her as a stand in to train Zuko in fire bending. Saiyu would do the physical part, and Uncle would instruct from the sidelines, or occasionally demonstrate a technique that was particularly difficult. The prince was coming along nicely in his training.

And then there was the training that Uncle didn't have a part in. The weapons and stealth, and secondary combative arts, and the herbology. Zuko was nearly on par with Saiyu in the majority of these subjects. But she kept a few things in reserve for herself. A girl must have her secrets, right?

Saiyu was glad that her cousin was nearly at the same level as she was, even with him receiving the training much later in life than the young woman had. It proved to Saiyu, and to Uncle, that Zuko was the better of the royal siblings.

Saiyu was certain that Azula cared very little for anything that Ozai didn't directly approve of, or put into the princesses head. Which would leave the venemous girl at a disadvantage when it mattered.

Saiyu shivered again, burying her face into the thick polar fox fur that lined her hood. Perhaps it was time to take her ruminations below decks, where a nice hot pot of Oolong tea, or even Jasmine, might be found.

Uncle was in his cabin, the lieutenant having left just before her arrival. Saiyu shed her thick black coat, with its pretty white fur lining at the door and came to sit at the table beside Uncle. She found herself with a cup before her, the rich scent of oolong wafting from its dark amber contents. Saiyu lifted the cup, sniffing appreciatively before sipping her tea. It warmed her down to her core, a pleasant feeling after the bitter cold of the outside.

"Have we decided our strategy, Uncle?" Saiyu asked. She held her cup in both hands, letting the heat seep into her fingers. Iroh hummed in response, staring at the map on the small table in front of him. He was pensive, and Saiyu chose not to interrupt his thoughts, instead drinking the rest of her tea, and a second cup, in silence.

***

The bright pillar of light that exploded into the sky startled Saiyu, who had come up from the ship to retrieve Zuko and accompany him to Uncle's cabin to go over the plans Uncle had laid out. The shouting and sudden flurry of movement from the men didn't help. The girl stood there watching the sky where an after image of the blue-white light had appeared in the sky over what she assumed was land.

Zuko was shouting orders to the men. Saiyu turned in her heel and bolted into the interior of the ship. Uncle needed to know what was happening. Excitement bubbled up in the girl's chest as her feet moved. 

This meant that the Avatar truly was alive, and he was in the South Pole, and Zuko's mad quest wasn't a hopeless lost cause!

There was finally a chance that he might actually get to go home. Saiyu was grinning lime a lunatic when she burst into the room she had only left a handful of minutes before. Uncle looked up sharply. And then his eyes widened and he started to get to his feet. Saiyu was beside him, lending her arm and practically dragging him from the dimly lit cabin.

***

Sokka wasn't happy about this at all. But was Katara listening? No. The bubbly boy in the orange and yellow robes was blabbering on a mile a minute, and Sokka was so not impressed.

So this kid, Aang was the Avatar. So what. That didn't mean Sokka had to kiss up to him.

And then when they got back to the village suddenly it wasn't just Katara, but everyone. Sokka was decidedly put out. So he did what he did best in these situations. He sulked. And pouted. And complained. And sulked some more. Not that it was doing him much good.

But eventually he started to warm up to Aang. The kid was genuinely nice, and meant no harm. He just wanted to be the twelve year old kid that he seemed to be.

So Sokka forgave him.

And then the Fire Nation ship showed up, plowing right through Sokka's wall. It had taken him forever to convince the kids to help him build that! And even longer to actually build it! And now look at it; a pile of slushy, dirty snow under the gankplank of an enemy ship.

What was worse was the snappy boy who stepped off that ship, followed closely by a girl dressed all in black with a fur lined hood, and an older man that stood regally behind them both.

Everything happened so fast that Sokka could barely keep up, but the next thing g he knew he was airborne on Aang's flying bison, Katara beside him and the monk guiding them away from home.

This wasn't what Sokka had ever wanted, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. Katara was dead set on helping Aang put an end to the war. If they were going to succeed they would need Sokka. 


End file.
